My Mother: Coffee Snob

For those of you who know my mom, you may be surprised to hear this.

She's a coffee snob.

She's down for the winter with us (thank the Gods, one less child in daycare for 3 months!!). Since she only drinks 3 things: coffee, water, and blackberry brandy, our coffee consumption has gone up considerably.

John, in his continual quest to be a culinary black belt, had taken "coffee" as a project for the last few months.

He's been experimenting with which beans, what temperature, what grind, additives in the grinds (some say a dash of salt removes some bitterness...). He'd gotten to make some nice stuff. But Mom really wasn't into it.

She told me, off the record, that the stuff we were drinking? It just isn't coffee. It doesn't even smell like coffee.

So, I took a little gamble. I told John to buy the stuff in the blue can - comes pre-ground. He brewed up a pot, I poured her a cup and handed it to her. The sniff (all coffee drinkers sniff before drinking - have you noticed that?) then, a pause. Her eyes got bright.

"Coffee!!"

She drained the entire pot that morning. This is saying something, since I didn't drink any, and I usually have at least one big mug full.

Maxwell House. To hell with Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and their swill. Maxwell House is The mojo. And, it's good to the last drop!

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